Somali military says 30 fighters killed in offensive against Al-Shabab

Somalia National Army (SNA) said Tuesday its forces killed 30 al-Shabab militants in a security operation in Hiiraan region of central Somalia.

Army Spokesperson in Hiiraan region, Mohamed Noor Agajof said the SNA forces also recovered military equipment from the insurgents following a fierce gunfight with the terrorist group.

“We killed about 30 al-Shabab fighters and our forces captured areas from al-Shabab.” Agajof said, “the fighting occurred in areas along the road linking Beledweyne town to Mataban and Mahas.”

“We also recovered weapons and liberated other key locations from the terrorists,” he added without stating there a number of casualties on the SNA or civilians during the military operations in the central region.

The Somali security forces backed by African Union peacekeeping forces have ramped up security operations to flush out al-Shabab fighters from the Horn of Africa nation.

There was no immediate comment from the terrorist group on the latest military onslaught in Hiiraan region.

The latest developments come after Somali National Army has teamed up with local security forces for joint security operations against the militant group blamed for staging near-daily attacks on government installations and AU mission bases including other public places.